SRK: 'I wanted Akon and Lady Gaga to sing together for RA.One'

By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, Oct. 16 -- Earlier in the year, Shah Rukh Khan surprised everyone by announcing that R&B superstar Akon would sing for his movie, RA.One. A bigger surprise was that the Senegalese-American singer would be singing in Hindi. The superstar admitted that he'd met Akon in New York, and over a drink, had wondered if he'd like to sing for Hindi films. Akon agreed immediately and SRK told him to fly down to Mumbai.

"My son and I had heard him sing 'Smack that...' at the IPL final in South Africa. He's a cool guy but we didn't know if he could sing in Hindi. But 'Shake your booty...' and 'Chamak challo...' are chartbusters today," SRK pointed out, adding that he'd also wanted Lady Gaga to sing for his superhero fantasy: "I'd wanted Akon and Lady Gaga to do a song together for RA.One but we couldn't nail her down in the short time we had available. But I've met her manager and if I get another chance and a song that suits her, I'll definitely get Lady Gaga to sing for my movie."

SRK, who launched NVIDIA, GeForce G.One Signature Edition cards, that enhance the visual experience on PCs while watching movies and playing games, agreed that making a futuristic sci-fi film for a country that is still hooked on 'saas bahu' TV serials was a risk. But, as he pointed out, over the last 20 years he's taken a lot of gambles, including starting his career with negative roles in Darr (1993) and Baazigar (1993).

"I've always believed in the intelligence of our audience and their acceptance of new ideas. I played the bad guy successfully when it was said that negativity didn't work. I did an out-and-out love story in the '90s when romance was finished. I've done a film on hockey and an over-the-top romantic caper called Om Shanti Om (2007) and people have enjoyed both," he pointed out. "You have to give everything a shot. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed, but you can't stop trying or try to make a movie to make money. I make a movie that has a good story to tell."